MICKEY KAUS wonders if Hillary Clinton was channeling Strom Thurmond when she added this gloss to Martin Luther King:

Yes, we want to be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. But what makes up character?” she said, quoting from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “If we don’t take race as part of our character, then we are kidding ourselves.”

Jeez.

UPDATE: Eugene Volokh, who’s on a roll, today, observes:

So let’s see if I understand this: The King quote is “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their characters.” But according to Hillary Clinton, “the content of [their] characters” must include race as part of “character.” Therefore, the quote really means “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their characters, including the color of their skin, which it is proper to consider as part of our character.” A pretty modest dream, it seems to me.

The way today’s multiculti left is channeling yesterday’s segregationist right would be amusing, if it weren’t so disturbing.

UPDATE: Tom Maguire emails that Hillary may have been misquoted. At least, in this account the quote is somewhat less objectionable:

Noting that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of “revolution,” Clinton said before a gathering hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton that affirmative action foes focus only on his urging that people be judged by their character.

“Well, of course,” she said. “But what is character? The sum total of who you are. The color of your skin and how you deal with it is part of your character.”

Somewhat. So which of these versions is the correct one? Beats me. I’ll let you know if I find out.

UPDATE: Tom Maguire fact-checks his own ass — there were two speeches.